For the third consecutive year the Malta Football Players Association will award the best player of the Maltese Premier League for season 2013/14 as voted by the players.
This year the Award Ceremony will be given a new dimension. The event will be held on Monday 28th April at the Corinthia Palace Hotel, Attard. All nominated players will be invited and the winners will be announced on the night.
This year, apart from the Best Player Award, the MFPA introduced the following new category awards: the Best Young Player, the MFPA Best XI and also a special award, the Merit Award. The Merit Award Winner will not be a football player but an award given as appreciation for the work done within the Maltese football family.
An innovative voting system has been introduced as from this year and it turned out to be a success. All Premier league players had the opportunity to vote for their preferred players. The MFPA executive committee, with the help of two Premier League club coaches agreed on a player’s short list that in their opinion excelled during the past season. Only players who played more than 20 games could be included in the shortlist. Each player was allowed to vote for each category but could not vote for players from his own club.
It turned out to be a very close contest, but the winners will be announced during the event.
The nominees are as follows:
MFPA XI
Best Goalkeeper – Justin Haber (Birkirkara), Nicholas Vella (Tarxien R.)
Best Left Back – Clayton Failla (Hibernians), Joseph Zerafa (Birkirkara)
Best Central Defenders – Stefano Bianciardi (Sliema Wanderers), Jonathan Caruana (Valetta), Alejandro Mendoza and Nikola Vukanac (Birkirkara),
Best Right Back – Roderick Briffa (Valetta), Edward Herrera (Birkirkara),
Best Midfielders – Andrew Cohen (Hibernians), Paul Fenech (Birkirkara), Ryan Fenech (Valletta), Jackson Lima (Hibernians), Denni Dos Santos (Valletta), Gareth Sciberras (Birkirkara)
Best Strikers – Jhonnattann Benitez (Birkirkara), Alfred Effiong (Qormi), Bojan Kaljevic (Mosta), Stanley Ohawuchi (Sliema W.), Edison Luis Dos Santos (Hibernians), Haruna Shola Shodiya (Birkirkara)MFPA Best Young Player
Igor Coronado (Floriana), Leighton Grech (Qormi), Lydon Micallef (Balzan Y.),MFPA Best Player
Player chosen from the MFPA XI shortlist
Notary Malcolm Licari, supervised the voting and counting process.
This award is special for every player since the winner is chosen by peers. The best players in the opinion of fellow players, opponents.
Last year’s winner Edward Herrera’s comments were “I truly appreciate that my efforts have been rewarded and I want to, with the help of my colleagues, keep this level and continue to play to the best of my ability, both for my club and my country. This is a special award for me as a player since it reflects the choice of players, mainly my opponents.”
The event will be presented by Rodney Vassallo and Sarah Agius.